realthog

Vera Nazarian's just-published anthology Sky Whales and Other Wonders, in which I'm lucky enough to have a story, "Breaking Laws", has been glowingly reviewed by Leigh Kimmel at The Billion Light-Year Bookshelf. Obviously I've noticed Kimmel's discussion of the other contributions as nothing more than a sort of gray blur in my peripheral vision, but as far as I can gather it's overall the kind of review that will see Vera (

norilana) printing off a thousand copies to decorate every wall in the house.

To my joy, Kimmel has very perceptively homed in on the fundamental darkness of "Breaking Laws", my humble attempt to open up a new thematic territory for urban fantasy:

John Grant brings us back to Earth, to a very gritty New York City in "Breaking Laws." It's said that this city has a beating heart, but in this story we see that poetic concept actualized in a way so fitting to a city that seems at once larger than life and yet somehow frightening, even corrupt. A fear that leads inexorably to the poignant ending. [. . .] a very dark story [. . .]

Of the anthology as a whole Kimmel concludes:

[. . .] a very impressive collection [. . .] I hate to use the words "hauntingly beautiful," since they've become so wretchedly overused to the point of becoming a cliche, yet in each of [the stories] there's a beauty that will linger with the reader long after the story itself has been finished. Sometimes it's bright and sweet, other times it's dark and poignant, yet in each of them is an acknowledgment of the indomitability of the human spirit, of the power of goodness to overcome evil and light to shine into the darkness. I really hope that Ms. Nazarian will be editing further anthologies in the near future.